The Incident
by Reparata
Summary: A deliberate accident affects Sheldon and Penny and their future together more than either of them can imagine. Well, Sheldon has quite the imagination, doesn't he? Is he dreaming or remembering? Does Penny really love Sheldon or it is just convenient? Read and find out. Completed.
1. Lean Down Here, Sheldon

Chapter 1

"Sheldon Cooper, you're a _huge_ frikkin' asshole, y'know that?" Penny slammed the apartment door on her way out leaving Sheldon somewhat perplexed. He was unaware of any social convention that he'd bent or broken that would result in such a declaration from her.

His three friends pretended to be interested in the ending credits of the movie. Leonard wondered if Sheldon had any idea just how badly he'd fucked up this time.

"Sheldon," Leonard began, squinting at his friend, "we all agreed to watch _this_ movie after we lost the bet. We all agreed to the terms of the bet. You broke your word to her and your comments throughout the movie totally ruined her moment of triumph. You _are_ a 'huge frikkin' asshole'!"

"I second that," offered Wolowitz. He blew his nose and picked up his empty water bottle and Styrofoam container of Chinese food and walked into the kitchen. He didn't want anyone to see how the movie had affected him. He hated chick flicks when they made him cry in public.

"Sheldon, you should go to her and apologize right this minute. You were totally out of line, my friend, and she was right to accuse you of being an enlarged anal pore."

Raj tidied up his takeout container and empty water bottle, uncaring that his friends might see the tears in his eyes. He was Indian and an Indian man was not afraid to display his emotions.

"Fine, if I violated some unknown social construct then I shall be the better man and apologize." He didn't feel he should apologize but then his friends were much more attuned to the social side of life than he was. He was a theoretical particle physicist and that was enough for him.

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock_, "Penny." The triplet of knocks and repeat of her name came unconsciously as did his acknowledgment that there were exactly 11 steps between their apartments. He kept track of such things.

Penny opened the door and he immediately felt uncertain. Her eyes were swollen and red and she had obviously been crying.

"Penny, I have come to apologize. I did not mean to make you angry or to prompt you to use such disgusting language but I realize that you – "

"Sheldon, lean down here a minute." She was going to punch him in the mouth. She hated him with a passion right that minute almost as much as she loved him other times.

Sheldon leaned forward, his head barely in the apartment and looking downwards. He was steeling himself for the inevitable onslaught of a Penny-hug but instead of hugging him, she lost her temper and stepped back and slammed the heavy steel-clad door, whacking him in the head, causing him to fall backwards and land on his back. His head struck the unforgiving tile floor with a sound much like a dropped cantaloupe. He was out like a light.

* * *

"Sheldon, honey, wake up. How's your head this morning?" She brushed the hair off his forehead and examined the purple and yellow knot. It looked sore and her lips brushed a kiss across it to 'make it all better'.

"Hurts." He had a headache unlike any he'd had before. His _hair_ even hurt. He hadn't opened his eyes because he just knew that the bright light in the hallway would hurt.

"Well, next time you pitch to Newt, remember that thing on your hand has a purpose, sweetie. Catch the baseball in the glove, not the forehead." Penny had just showered and was wearing the kimono robe he'd brought back from his trip to Tokyo right before Newt was born. She turned, shook her shoulders and let the robe flow to the floor and started getting dressed. The studio limo would be picking her up in a few hours.

'_Newt? Who the hell is Newt?'_

He dragged open an eye and saw Penny drop her robe and stand there staring into a dresser drawer as if making a monumental decision. Her body was breath-taking and Sheldon's reaction was atypical for him.

"You're an incredibly beautiful young woman, Penny. I never realized – "

She selected a pair of panties and turned and slipped them on, unmindful of his one-eyed stare or the look of embarrassment when he realized he was staring at his neighbor with 'lust in his heart' and that his sheet was 'tenting' rather prominently.

"That's sweet, stud, but I'm still going. It's only for a week, Shel, and it's not like I'll be on the moon. It's just on-location shots that can't be duplicated locally," Penny said as she slipped on her bra and fiddled with the cups until she felt comfortable.

She glanced over and saw the impressive tent in their bed and walked over and sat down on the edge and grabbed his rigid cock and laughed at the look on his face. "Want some help with that? It looks…painful." Her voice was full of laughter and she leaned over and kissed him soundly.

He fell asleep, cradling her gently against him.

"Get up, Shel, and shower. We have things to do. I left a list of emergency contact numbers and I'll have my cell with me all the time so call me if you feel lonely. In fact," she whispered, "call me tonight and every night I'm gone and we'll have phone sex just like when you went back to the Pole. It won't be nearly as good as last night – or this morning - but it beats nothing, right?"

Pain lanced through his head and he tried to answer but nothing seemed to work and he slipped back into the blackness.

* * *

"Sheldon, please wake up. Please?" Penny was holding his hand and her supply of tears never seemed to dry up. Sheldon had been unconscious 36 hours and it was all her fault. The doctors had assured them that he was doing as well as could be expected and that the intra cranial bleeding and pressure had been treated and relieved resulting in minimal damage.

_So why won't you please wake up for me, Sheldon?_

Flashback

Penny had flopped down on her couch, satisfied that slamming the door in his face let him know that his 'apology' was not accepted. She wiped the tears off her cheeks and buried her face in the pillow. She couldn't believe he'd been so…damned unfeeling!

She must have fallen asleep because noises and voices in the hallway awakened her and she stumbled to the door and glanced out the peephole and then threw the door open.

Paramedics were lifting Sheldon Cooper, already strapped to a backboard, onto a gurney. Raj and Howard looked on from the doorway of his apartment and Leonard stood by, wringing his hands and looking like he was going to cry.

"Leonard, what happened?" The paramedics counted to three and lifted Sheldon onto the gurney and then prepared to strap him down for transport down four flights of stairs.

"He came over to apologize to you and when he didn't come back Raj went to see if you'd killed him. That's when we found him lying on his back, bleeding all over the place. I called 9-1-1 and they got here pretty fast. What happened? Did you slug him or something?"

"No! He apologized and I closed the door. I was taking a nap and heard the noise. Is he going to be all right?" She'd slammed the door. Hard. Did she do this?

"Sir, you can follow us to the hospital. We're going to Pasadena General. Check with the emergency room and they'll tell you where he'll be," one of the paramedics told Leonard.

That had been 36 hours ago and each hour had dragged by waiting first for the surgeon to tell them he was okay and then waiting for him to wake up. It had been the longest 36 hours of her 25 years.

She leaned over him and whispered in his ear. "Sheldon, I did this and I'm so sorry, sweetie. Please, I know you're pissed at me but could you please just quit sleeping and wake up and yell at me or something?"

* * *

"Sheldon Lee Cooper, get out of that bed this instant! Honestly, I didn't think I tired you out that much last night, honey. I'm leaving soon and I want to go over my schedule and the emergency numbers again and maybe we can talk a little more about this summer, okay?"

Sheldon sat up and stared at the bright bedroom. One entire wall was a series of French doors that opened out onto a patio and pool and the others were painted a nice bright yellow. He looked down and saw he was naked and he pulled the sheet over him in embarrassment.

"Sheldon, maybe you should swing by the office and have Stephanie take a look at that head. You've been acting weird and I hate leaving you when you're not feeling well." She sat beside him and wrapped her arm around him. She didn't like the size or color of the knot on his forehead.

"Now, Newt's over at Missy's and she'll bring him back tomorrow afternoon. Work on your acceptance speech some more. Try not to make so many Star Trek references, honey. Shatner didn't win the Nobel Prize, you did. Only three weeks until we fly to Stockholm, baby, and then I get to watch you get the Prize. I'm so excited."

His mouth moved but no sound came out and Penny immediately went into full-blown panic, sure something was wrong with his beautiful mind.

"That's it! I'm calling Stephanie right now and the limo can just come back for me tomorrow. We're going to the doctor, Doctor Nobel Prize Winner."

"No! No, I'm – fine, yeah, fine. I just forgot about all of the stuff we have to do before going to Stockholm." He was lying but pulling it off beautifully. Not a twitch or a shudder.

"Well, work on the speech, my darling genius, and let me take care of the rest. Are you sure you're feeling okay? That was a hard line drive your son hit you with. If he can knock the ball that hard at three, imagine what he'll be able to do when he's 12 and starts Little League!"

_Question answered. 'Newt' is my son and is three years old and can hit a baseball. Must take after his mom, the slugger._

"What are you smiling at, stud?" Penny was throwing clothing items into a large leather suitcase but watching her husband like a hawk. She knew he was lying. After almost 5 years of marriage, there wasn't much she didn't know about Dr. S.L. Cooper, PhD and Nobel Prize Winner-designate.

"Just thinking that Newt must take after you, _Slugger_. I love you, Penny."

* * *

The doctors had hooked Sheldon up to some brain gizmo. They told her the name but she hadn't been listening. All her attention was focused on the man she'd been trying to seduce. She'd rigged the bet, stacked the odds in her favor, and won and she and Sheldon had sat side by side on the couch watching _Love Story_, Penny's all-time most favorite chick flick.

She hadn't been able to get rid of his three friends despite hints that a rock would have gotten. She planned on letting her emotions go during the movie and hoped Sheldon would comfort her. It was the first step in a long plan of seduction.

He was mumbling something, the first sign she'd had that he was still in there, somewhere, and she leaned over and gasped when she heard 'I love you, Penny' clear as a bell.

"Oh, Sheldon, I think I love you, too." She laid her head on his chest, listening to the steady beating of his heart and squeezed herself onto the bed beside him and finally fell asleep.

Updates dependent upon interest.


	2. Struggling to Remember?

Chapter 2

* * *

He leaned against the doorframe of the front door because he was dizzy. Penny had just kissed the fire out of him and he'd never felt anything like it before in his whole life. His sleep pants were suddenly constricting and he was shocked at how quickly he'd become aroused.

The woman would be the death of him some day.

Now he just had to figure out what the hell was going on here. Why was all this so new? Why couldn't he remember dating, marrying, having a child together?

He needed data and there was only one place to get it without exposing his secret.

He googled himself and read the university bio, then the Wikipedia entries and finally he started accessing the general news articles. The article in _Physics Quarterly_ caught his attention and he read about his 2nd expedition to the Magnetic North Pole and of his discovery of the elusive monopole.

He entered Penny's name and read her Agency Bio, her personal information and read about her engagement to Dr. S. L. Cooper. Penny had finally been 'discovered' by a producer while serving him cheesecake and had a recurring role in a weekly series on SyFy. He clicked 'Images' and saw a few photos of them together at a party, at some red carpet thing and of their wedding and reception. She'd been a beautiful bride and his heart swelled at the sight of her.

Now if only he could remember.

He stood up and started into the kitchen to make coffee but a wave of dizziness dropped him to his knees in the living room. He moaned and grabbed his head and it all went black.

* * *

"My head – hurts," he whispered. The pain was localized to the back of his head. He kept his eyes closed and just listened. He heard a repetitious beeping sound…and a woman crying softly, almost beyond the range of most people's hearing but not his Vulcan ears.

He knew that sound. "Pen – ny?" It was the most he could manage and he wasn't really sure he'd even made a sound.

"Sheldon! Thank God you're awake. Let me get the doctor, baby. Oh, Sheldon, can you open your eyes for me?"

He couldn't stay awake. He slipped away from her and back into a deep and dream-filled sleep.

* * *

Carpet. That's what he saw when he opened his eyes. Carpet. _'Penny's right. I do need to see Stephanie. Something's not right. I can't remember anything before I woke up in our bed this morning. And I keep dreaming that she's happy I'm awake. Must be Freudian or something.'_

He stood up and shook his head to clear the cobwebs and ran to the powder room off the kitchen and wretched up something he couldn't remember eating.

The symptoms of a concussion flooded his thoughts and he showered, dressed in clothes he normally wouldn't be caught dead in, (a long sleeved button down shirt and pleated slacks) and then called the number for 'Dr. Steph' that was on Penny's emergency list. He made a mental note to find his t-shirts. He felt ridiculous dressed as he was.

* * *

"Sheldon, I think you have a concussion. Your pupils are slow to react to light and are uneven. It's a good thing you came by cab. You said you've experienced disorientation, dizziness and your memory seems to have holes in it, right?"

He nodded and immediately regretted it. He got dizzy and Stephanie steadied him until he was back on an even keel.

"Okay, here's what you _will_ do, Sheldon Cooper, or I'll call Penny and she'll nag you into it. Go home. Go to bed. No computer, no television, just rest and sleep."

"Penny's out of the country on a shoot. I don't remember where. She said Newt would be home tomorrow afternoon so I have that long to get better."

"No, it'll take longer than that and you don't need that hyperactive little tyrant running you ragged. Call Missy and tell her I said she's got Newt for at least another couple of days. I'll want you back in here in three days, Dr. Cooper, but call me if you have any dizziness or vision problems, okay, Shelly?"

"Yes." He was afraid to nod or even move his head. Lights seemed too bright and noises too loud. The receptionist called a cab for him and he was home and in bed within the hour.

* * *

"Ma'am, are you absolutely sure you heard him speak? Maybe you were dozing and had a dream?"

"Yes, he said my name and I followed the day nurse's instructions and alerted you. Maybe if I'd stayed and talked with him he might have been able to stay awake."

The nurse was back about 15 minutes later and told Penny that his doctor was 'on the way in' and had ordered an immediate CT Scan and another MRI. Penny was _not _supposed to leave him if he woke up but to use the call button. If he woke up, it was imperative that she kept him awake by any means_._

Penny moved her chair over against his bed rail and held his hand, rubbing the knuckles across her lips. She loved his hands. They were big with large palms and long fingers that moved with speed, grace and efficiency. His hand was cold so she blew her breath against it and rubbed it trying to warm it up.

"Sheldon, please, please wake up. I'm so sorry and I know you'll forgive me in time but I need to know you're okay and I need...you. I'm so afraid for you, Shel. Please, if you can hear me, please wake up.

* * *

He was so bored and sleep would not come to him no matter how many times he went through his ritual of naming the elements of the Periodic Table in order of discovery. He was wasting time and he needed to call Missy although he was curious about the 'hyperactive little tyrant' as Stephanie had described his son.

He had a son! He played baseball with him and so he couldn't be that much of a hassle. After all, he was only three.

He called Missy to tell her about his doctor's orders only to find out that she already knew. "Steph told me when she came home for lunch. Do you need anything? Newt and I can bring you supper and you can just pop it in the microwave."

His mind was whirling with new information. '_She came home for lunch?_ Missy and _Stephanie_? What about Leonard? His _sister_ and Stephanie? Mother must have had a cow over that announcement.'

His stomach growled and he chuckled. "Missy, that would be nice. I am hungry and I'd like to see Newt."

"Well, he misses his daddy and I figured _she_ would forget to make you some meals while she's gone. Y'know, Shel, sometimes she just doesn't seem to give a shit about you. And what about last summer? Have you talked with her at all about it? Forgiveness - that's your strong suit, Moon Pie."

He choked on his water and it made his head pound even worse. "Missy, I'd appreciate it if you could drop something off. Nothing major. And Newt. I want to meet, er, see Newt, of course."

He heard his sister sigh loudly and dramatically. "Shelly, I know you love her but all these 'location' shots and her overnights…"

"I'll see you when you get here. Thanks, Missy, for hanging on to Newt."

"Hey, Shelly, you'll do the same for me when my time comes. I'll be over in a couple of hours. Newt's down for a nap."

His head was pounding, whether from the coughing when Missy had brought up 'last summer' or from his concussion, it didn't matter. He was suddenly very tired and all he wanted to do was sleep.

* * *

Sheldon's eyes opened to a darkened room and for a second he thought he'd slept longer than just the hour or two he'd planned but then he heard the beeping and glanced over and saw the medical monitors.

'_What now? Did I have a stroke or something? Missy must have found me and…poor Newt!'_

He tried to rub his face with his free hand since the other had an IV running but couldn't move it. He looked down and saw a mass of blonde hair framing Penny's sleeping face. She had his hand cradled against her cheek.

'_It must be bad if they called her back from wherever the hell she went. She looks so tired. Who's watching Newt?'_

He tried to say something but all he could do was croak pathetically. His mouth was dry and his tongue seemed stuck to the roof of his mouth and the taste…_my God…someone defecated in my mouth!_

Penny heard Sheldon's groans and jerked her head up and smiled hugely when she saw his piercing blue eyes staring at her. There was intelligence in those eyes so she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, baby, I'm so happy to see you awake! I was scared to death I might have killed you! Water! I'll bet you want water. Just a second."

She turned back to him with a glass and straw and watched as his eyes slowly closed. "I was so scared, Sheldon and you wouldn't wake up!" His eyes were closing although he fought to stay awake.

"No! No, please…stay with me, Sheldon! I need you!" She patted his cheek, afraid to be more physical with him because of his head injury.

* * *

He felt a gentle but repetitive patting on his cheek. _Pat-pat-pat Daddy; pat-pat-pat-Daddy…_

"Who's punching me? Ow! Hey, that hurts!" His exaggerated comments were met with giggles and a blue-eyed, blonde haired version of Penny hugged his father.

"I sorry I popped you, Daddy. You gots a big boo-boo. Hurt?" He looked so sad and it broke Sheldon's heart to see it. He normally avoided kids like dirt but this one was different. This one was _his._

He hugged the little boy and told him that it was his fault because "Daddy forgot to catch the ball. Boy, you sure can hit, Slugger!" and he tickled him until he was laughing again. Sheldon ignored the pounding in his head and how sick to his stomach he felt.

"Newton, let your father get up and eat. C'mon, Newt, Erasmus needs to play ball since your daddy's going to eat."

"Raz!" His son shouted and ran ahead of them. Missy laughed at the look on Sheldon's face. "Wait until he discovers the banister from the kitchen to the basement, then you'll have something to worry about."

They walked to the kitchen with Missy steadying him and Sheldon stopped at the sight of Newt and a bear. "What the hell is that?"

Missy looked at her brother, clearly worried for the first time.

"That's Erasmus. You got him when he was just a puppy and raised him and had him trained to protect Newt. He's amazingly gentle with the little brat but don't let a stranger approach Newt. I've seen him pick your son up by the shirt and run back to the house with him. It's funny seeing a laughing little boy hanging out of the brute's mouth. Best decision you ever made, Shelly."

Erasmus was an Old English Mastiff, and weighed 170 pounds and was still growing.

Erasmus ambled over to Sheldon and sat down beside him and leaned against him. Sheldon looked at Missy with a helpless look on his face.

"He wants your okay to go play. Normally he barks but I think you finally broke him of barking in the house since _she_ doesn't like it."

"Go play with Newt, Raz. Protect!" and the dog and boy ran out into the privacy-fenced backyard, clearly intent on having fun.

"You might not remember the dog but you still have the command voice. That dog will die before he lets something happen to the squirt."

"Why do I need a 4-legged body guard for my son, Missy?"

"Because…"

He had no idea what she said. He felt a searing pain in his head and then he was falling…

* * *

Penny sat in the surgical waiting room with Howard and Raj. Leonard was trying to contact Missy or Sheldon's mom about his 'situation' but wasn't having much luck.

"I can't believe this is happening! One of the greatest minds of our time and he's in there having his brain messed with by incompetents who missed the problem in the first place. No wonder they call it a 'medical _practice_'."

"Howard, the doctor told me that the original scans didn't show the bleed because it was so tiny and probably would have healed in time but his blood pressure keeps spiking and his EEG shows he's thinking up a storm in there."

"It's what he _does_, Penny. He thinks. I build things, you drive us crazy, Leonard whines, Raj can't talk, Sheldon thinks."

Updated 6/4


	3. Fears, Doubts & Phone Calls

Greetings from turbulent Wisconsin. Covering an issue and freelancing is suddenly a paying issue.

This will be he last posting for a bit. Sorry but bills to pay.

* * *

The Incident 3

Sheldon smelled something – _ammonia _– his 'sciency brain' provided. Ugh. Smelling salts. He didn't even know he had them.

"Take it easy, Shelly. I've called Steph and she's on her way over. Did you hit your head when you fell? Here, shut up and watch my finger. Well, did you hit your head?"

"You told me to shut up and then asked a question. What's wrong with this picture, Missy?"

"Smart ass! You scared the crap outta me, Shelly! Listen, Newt's in the yard with Raz and I'm just going to get cold, damp cloth for your neck. Have you eaten anything at all today?"

His sister never shut up. She asked questions, one right after the other, and then told him to shut up. Just like when they were kids.

He heard an adult voice in the kitchen and then Stephanie was all over him with questions and pokes and prods and that damned bright light of hers.

"Stop it, Stephanie, that light's killing my eyes. Yes, I have a headache. No, I didn't smell anything strange or feel all 'fuzzy' before I passed out. No, I do not have traumatic epilepsy despite how similar the symptoms appear to be. I'm just tired, haven't eaten anything yet and that means low blood sugar."

"Smart ass. Where did you go to medical school?" He was disgustingly accurate in his assessment and in her assumptions. She hated that about him. She loved him like a brother but he could really be _Sheldon_ and get under her skin.

"Heidelburg, actually. I was between degrees and I audited the classes thinking I might add 'M.D.' to my credentials until I saw what 'Introduction to Anatomy' involved and then I scratched 'Become a medical doctor' off my bucket list."

"You have a 'bucket list'?" Was there something really wrong with him? This was pushing the envelope for hypochondria, even for Sheldon Cooper.

"Bazinga! But I did eliminate it from my 'Things To Do Before Reaching Age 25' list."

She punched him lightly on the shoulder in response. "You know, Sheldon, a lot of this could be psychosomatic. A lot has happened both professionally and personally and it might just be a way of coping…"

"I'm not crazy, Stephanie. My mother had me tested," it was his time-honored response to any suggestion that he was less than 'all there' in times past.

"I mean, Sheldon, that maybe it's your head's way of saying 'slow down and smell the roses'. When was the last time you just did something crazy just for yourself?"

"I don't remember." He was honest.

"See! You – " But he cut her off with an expansion of his comment.

"I _don't_ remember. I _can't_ remember. I don't remember dating Penny, getting married. I don't even remember Newt! Nothing before this morning when I woke up. Nothing after – nothing after Penny and I arguing about _Love Story_ a while back. We lost a bet, the guys and I, and we had to sit through that syrupy garbage and then…nothing."

"You started dating Penny right after that. She told me it was step one in her plan to seduce you and establish a relationship. She set her sights on you and you were toast and didn't even know it."

"I don't remember." He looked so lost for a moment that Stephanie hugged him. "You'll get it back, bean pole. It's still there, you just haven't found the right memory trigger."

"What if I don't?" he whispered more to himself than to Stephanie.

Stephanie wanted to admit him to the hospital 'for tests' and he was adamant about refusing. For some reason going to a hospital terrified him. Pain, uncertainty, fear, but mostly the feeling that he'd never come back and that all the things that made up his wonderful life would be lost forever. He finally just told her the truth.

"I'm afraid of going to the hospital, okay? Everyone who has ever gone to a hospital in my life hasn't come home. Pappaw, Meemaw, my dad…hospitals are where people go to die, Stephanie."

"Penny went to the hospital to have Newt," she countered.

"I had a plan to home-deliver but for some reason she objected. I can't imagine why." The look on his face made her laugh.

"I can't imagine why either," she responded, wryly.

* * *

Stephanie and Missy were discussing Sheldon's issues thinking he couldn't hear but they'd forgotten his eerie near-inhuman ability to hear the human voice at great distances or if whispered, as they were doing.

[I think we need to call Penny and have her force him into the hospital. She's got leverage and if anyone can make my brother 'submit' to good sense, it's her.]

[Let's give it a day or two, Missy. He's upset enough as it is with his memory issues and I don't want to overload him with worries about a hospital stay. It's my medical opinion that a few days wont' matter…]

[Well, it's my opinion, as his sister, that he needs to be in a hospital and have those tests you discussed with him run. Penny said Newt knocked him out and it was several minutes before she heard Erasmus barking and scratching at the door. Poor Newt was hugging his daddy and crying. Penny said it broke her heart to see him so upset until she saw why…]

[Fine. Call her but it's on your head, Missy. He'll hate you for it. He's scared to death of hospitals.]

* * *

Sheldon walked out into the back yard and sat down at the outdoor dinner table and watched his son and Erasmus play. His face hurt from grinning as he watched two of the beings he treasured most in the world cavort in carefree play.

_How can I have forgotten my son and his dog? Why can't I remember anything that's happened in the past years? Maybe I do need to go have those tests run. Maybe I can get my memories back._

* * *

The surgeons and the neurologist sat down with Penny since she seemed to be their patient's 'significant other' in the absence of his parents or guardian. They patiently explained that portions of Dr. Cooper's brain, specifically those areas governing short and long term memories, were affected by the minor aneurysm, but that he should recover his memories normally within 'acceptable parameters of expectation'.

Penny hated tech-speak and demanded an 'English translation'. The surgeon nodded to the neurologist who sighed. He hated dealing with the loved ones of patients. They were so demanding.

"It means that Dr. Cooper's memories may return entirely or perhaps piecemeal within normal timeframes."

"Which means? Just tell me like I'm 5 years old."

"He might not remember things or he might remember everything. I understand that he has eidetic memory so I'm fairly sure he'll be fine in a while."

Penny was losing her temper. The man she was fairly certain she loved was lying in the recovery room after these idiots had drilled holes in his head to fix what they missed the first time and using ass-covering words such as 'may' instead of will, 'perhaps' instead of certainly, brought out the Junior Rodeo in her.

"So the bottom line is – you don't know a damned thing for certain." She was just barely containing her temper.

"That's right. But we have high hopes for a normal recovery. High hopes."

"When can I see him?"

"He's in recovery and then we'll move him to a special ICU area for monitoring. Tomorrow morning for certain. He should be conscious and able to speak. We'll schedule tests for tomorrow morning so anytime after noon should be fine."

"So he won't be in and out of consciousness after this? This 'bleed' is what caused that?"

The surgeon looked at the neurologist and grimaced. This is why he went into surgery. Minimal interface with the patient but the loved ones and family couldn't be avoided.

"We're not sure just what caused the loss of consciousness but yes, this should remedy that. We won't know for sure until later on."

The two doctors shared a glance and then excused themselves. Nothing was certain in dealing with the human brain. They just didn't know enough about how it worked to explain it.

Penny was upset and couldn't stop the tears. When she walked out of the 'consultation area' Sheldon's three friends saw her and assumed the worse.

"Penny, is he…is he going to be okay?" Howard seemed the most sincere.

Raj? She couldn't tell since he couldn't speak to her and Howard was too upset to listen to his whisperings but he did look very concerned.

Leonard…was being Leonard. There was concern on some level but indifference in deeper and more meaningful layers of his personality.

'He's more like his mother than he cares to acknowledge. And I haven't seen it until now. Glad I dodged the 'relationship' bullet with Leonard. Ewww.'

"He's going to ICU for recovery and tests. We won't be able to see him until after noon tomorrow so I'm heading home and get out of these 3-day old clothes, get cleaned up and catch some sleep. I'll be back at noon tomorrow. Leonard, any luck getting Mary or Missy?"

"Um, no, not really. I left Missy a voicemail and there was no answer at Mary's house. I suppose I could try again tomorrow morning. I just called that one time."

Penny smashed down on the urge to punch the little weasel in the throat. He'd tried ONE time…?

"Don't bother. I'll get a hold of them. I guess that's it, guys. See you all tomorrow?"

Howard and Raj nodded and then left while Leonard lagged behind.

"Want to catch some dinner tonight, Penny? I know this has all been very stressful and you probably need some relief from all this tension."

"Leonard…could you be any less obvious? Sheldon's fighting for his life and all you can think about is that tiny little thing and pleasure. No. Not again. If I had a time machine, I'd…"

She spaced out for a second. The guilt of what she'd accidentally done to Sheldon hit her hard and she had tears in her eyes.

"Well, then, Penny, I'll see ya around." He looked like someone had kicked his puppy but she was so immune to his pathetic gambits. Sheldon was brutally truthful at all times and she always knew where she stood with him. Leonard just wanted…what he always wanted.

"Yeah, Leonard. See ya." She hurried down the stairs not even wanting to be in the same enclosed elevator with him. _What was I thinking when I slept with Leonard?_

* * *

Sheldon answered his cell and smiled. Penny.

"Sheldon, Missy says you need to go to the hospital for tests. She says you've passed out a couple of times and that it's serious! Why didn't you call me? Did you see Stephanie at all?"

No 'hello, honey'. He sighed. His sister was sometimes the bane of his existence. Her constant harping on the past irritated him to the point where he'd seriously considered…he didn't know what he'd do.

"Penny, it's nothing. Really. I did see Stephanie and we both agree that Missy is overreacting but to keep harmony in their relationship, Stephanie agreed that Missy could contact you. You know how I feel about hospitals. People go there to die. I do not want to die and leave you and Newt so, _ergo sum,_ I will not go."

"Sheldon Cooper, don't pull that Latin crap on me. You only do that when you're desperate because you're losing the argument. I'm coming home. I never should have left you to bear this alone. I'm such a shitty wife and mother. I'll be home…I have to clean up some loose ends here and get a flight. I'll see you tomorrow – and then you _will _go to the hospital, Sheldon, if Stephanie thinks it's necessary."

"Penny, do you love me?" It came out of the blue. She'd never said it. Not once. Not even when they were having sexual congress. Not when she was climaxing, as he'd been informed was a social norm.

"What? Well, of course. We're married. We have Newt. Why would you even ask such a stupid thing?"

"Because I find it hard to believe that…"

"Shelly, I love you more than anything or any one in the whole world except maybe Newt and that's a mother's love. You let Missy handle my baby boy and you, my darling man, get your scrawny self into bed and stay there. I'm coming home, Moon Pie."

His response was automatic. "Don't call me Moon Pie. Only Meemaw calls me that."

"Tomorrow, my love, I'll see you tomorrow." She was trying to make him feel better but all it did was fan the flames of his own doubts.

"Yes, tomorrow. Goodbye, Penny." He ended the call abruptly without thinking. He was done talking. It was how he did things.

His throat felt sore and he suddenly was gagging and gasping for breath. It seemed like he couldn't get enough air to inflate his lungs and his vision began to gray out and his last thought before kissing the tiled patio floor was of Penny and the love he felt for her and his son.


	4. The Sleeper Awakens

Keep in mind that Sheldon has suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of being whacked hard by Penny's steel firedoor. His thoughts are hardly linear and his imagination is running rampant lacking the filters normally present - even in Sheldon's mind.

Reparata

* * *

The Incident 4

"Dr. Cooper, quit fighting us! Nurse, grab his hands while I pull out the 'tube. You'll be able to breathe easier after it's out."

Sheldon fought the suffocating thing in his throat. Something was trying to pull his lungs out! He flailed his arms around hoping to knock whatever had attacked him off his face but something grabbed his wrists and stopped him.

Far off, like whispers, he heard 'you'll be able to breathe easier…' and suddenly he could and taking one then a second deep breath, he slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Oh, Sheldon, I've been wanting to do this since our 'I do's'. Let me get this tie off you and you'll be able to breathe easier…" She laughed and then ripped the tie from around Sheldon's neck and tore open his tuxedo dress shirt, causing buttons to fly. She ran the palms of her hands over his chest and up over his shoulders and then the shirt was hanging from his pants where it was still tucked in.

"Mrs. Cooper, a little decorum, if you please. Penny, I rented the tux and now I'll have to pay for the shirt!"

He didn't really care since he was busy carefully unbuttoning her wedding gown. He should have insisted on a zipper but she was wearing her grandmother's dress and it was from another age and all buttons - little tiny buttons that defied his large fingers.

"I'm glad we waited to have sex, Shel. This is our first time and we're married now and it's just so right! You were right, husband. I'm glad we waited although I was getting so damned frustrated…and when you whispered those naughty thoughts of yours in my ear during the Bride's dance, I thought I'd die right there…make love to me, Sheldon…"

"These damned buttons, Penny…"

* * *

Sheldon hated airports. People were either leaving others behind or waiting impatiently to greet returning loved ones. He was the exception. With Penny gone and his trio of male friends either estranged (Leonard) or feeling guilty about the last expedition (Wolowitz and Koothrappalli), there was no one to bid him farewell and adieu. It bothered him but he wouldn't let on.

He wasn't thrilled with his expedition's other members: Leslie Winkle and Klaus Daniken, both skeptics in his quest for the elusive monopole but he'd agree to skeptics to give his discovery more credence.

"Well, Cooper, where's Barbie? She too busy getting her nails done or playing with her yummy co-star?" Leslie had dropped the 'Dr. Dumbass' after Penny had threatened to rearrange her smile and 'correct that disgusting overbite you have, Dr. Tinkle' with a few fists in her face.

"She's on her way to Indonesia for some location shooting and I saw her off earlier this week. You're just jealous, Leslie. Admit it. She's one of the most popular actresses on TV and you're just a technocrat who repeats the successful efforts of others. Let's agree to bury our differences since the Arctic will try and kill us more effortlessly than either of us can manage."

That had ended it, at least for the moment.

Their charter flight was leaving LAX for Ottawa where they'd check in with the Canadian authorities and pick up their equipment. The next and final leg of the journey was by bush plane and Sheldon had arranged for a winterized kayak to be attached to one of the floats in the event that the wandering MNP was in open water. It should make a stable-enough platform for his readings.

* * *

Latitude 078' 47.497N  
Longitude 103' 28.984 W  
Ellesmere Island

"Cooper, you're nuts. Take the readings from the closest land-based point. You'll never make it out and back again in the time we have before the storm hits. The barometer has fallen through the bottom. We'll document your efforts via video camera and I'm certain that damned mythic monopole of yours is out there and will be found but damn it, Sheldon, do it on land!"

"Leslie, it's not enough to be 'close' to MNP, I have to be on it for the results to be unquestionable. I'll leave at first light and it's not but 20 miles and I'll check GPS, videotape my location and findings, run and transmit the experiment and results back to you. I trust you, Leslie, to do the right thing and not screw with my data like the others did. Right or wrong, it's the last chance for me."

"It'll be your _last_ anything if the storm hits while you're out there in your damned kayak! Cooper, we have been swayed from the Dark Side and now support your beliefs. Don't throw away your life for something so…so unimportant. Think about your wife and the people who love you…" Klaus was desperate to keep Sheldon from dragging the kayak out over the ice flows and into clear water. He liked the nutball scientist and had reviewed his equations and gradually embraced string theory. What he proposed doing was simply suicide.

"As leader of this expedition, it is within my purview to decide and decide I have. I'm going. Get things ready here at the ice station for the storm. I'll be back within 8 hours but I'll start transmitting when I've got the experiment set up and ready to run."

He was tired and cold and the waves that periodically crashed over his little kayak had soaked him even through his survival suit. His equipment was set, he was at the MNP according to his GPS equipment and he initialized his equipment and flipped on the hand-held video camera.

"This is Dr. Sheldon Cooper at the MNP," he aimed the camera at the GPS readout and then continued, " and I'm initiating the final experiment to prove the existence of monopoles." He flipped a switch and said a prayer to the gods of science and discovery and then continued his narrative.

"I've run the experiment and the results are being transmitted back to my colleagues on the island. The storm is picking up and I'm heading back. This is Sheldon Coop – "

The wave broke over his little kayak, capsizing it and sending everything not secured into the icy black waters of the sea. Including Sheldon Cooper.

* * *

"Sheldon! I got the part! I'm gonna be on TV!" Penny ran into their apartment, the same one Sheldon had shared with Leonard until their marriage and then he moved across the hall into Penny's. Sheldon basically ignored Leonard except for their morning and evening drives to and from the University. Leonard was still smarting from Penny's blunt rejection of his efforts to rekindle their failed 'relationship'…and of course her marriage to Sheldon.

"See? I told you that you'd get it. All you had to do was relax and just be 'Serena Hatchett, evil and sexy wench and ne'er do well femme fatale'. I'm so proud of you, Penny!"

After numerous kisses that melted her and set her blood boiling, she dragged him to their bedroom. "Penny, I was right in the middle of…oh, Jesus, Penny…"

They were still wrapped up in one another when Penny mentioned 'travel'. Sheldon was running his fingertip over her tight buttock inscribing string theory equations when she said "I'll have to be on location for a lot of the shooting schedule but we'll have all the time together we need, honey. Besides, you're going back to the Magnetic Pole this summer, right? So we'll both be gone at about the same time."

"I was thinking about that. We've only been married a short time, Penny, and I don't think it's healthy for us to be apart – "

"Sheldon Cooper! You old softy. Shelly's gonna miss me…" she sing-songed and then whispered that she loved him and that they could do 'phone sex' every night and it would help the time pass. "I love you more than anything, Moon Pie, but it's my job, just like going up there and freezing your sexy butt off is yours. Just don't freeze off this," she muttered, squeezing his cock and giggling. "I need this and the guy attached to it. So you be careful up there. I'd die if anything were to happen to you, Sheldon. Even after 18 months it seems like we've been married only a few weeks. Is the honeymoon over?"

* * *

"Penny, I think you should see Dr. Stephanie about this constant nausea. Maybe you picked up something out there in the Indonesian jungle. You could have a parasite or something worse that's making you vomit so prodigiously."

"No, sweetie, it's not a parasite…well, it _is, _sort of. I'm pregnant, Sheldon. You, my love, are going to be a daddy in 8 months or so!"

"Uh…me? A father? ME? Oh, Penny, I'm not ready to be a father. I can hardly handle my own life. How can I be someone to look up to and emulate when people think I'm half-crazy? And what if she's…what if she's ugly like me and doesn't inherit your beauty and grace? Maybe it's the flu…yeah, the flu!"

"Nope, sweetie. I think that trip to the Arctic with Winkle and Klaus really did something to you. You knocked me up and we're going to be wonderful parents, Shel. We have money and brains and looks and our baby will grow up to rule the world!"

* * *

"Sheldon, he was in the house! We need to move right now, today. That damned psycho stalker was in our house, in our bedroom! Thank God I was out with Newt. God knows what that psycho bastard might have done!"

"Penny, the police have laid on extra patrols and I've taken steps to ensure our family's safety. Penny, meet Erasmus…he's Newt's bodyguard. And yours, of course, but he'll stay by Newt 24/7 and when the police catch the psycho he'll be Newt's best friend."

"Shelly, he's cute and all but he only weighs about 3 pounds…"

"He'll weigh 130 within a year and I've already arranged for him to go through guard dog training and also 'baby sitting' school for dogs. A boy needs a dog and this one just happens to be highly ranked in family protection."

"No, I mean, okay, Newt can have the dog but I want a bodyguard on Newt when I'm home. He's only interested in me and the studio says – "

"Penny, you and Newt are going to your folks until they catch this nut. I've already talked with the producer and they can film at a studio in Omaha, just not the exterior shots."

"You can't run my life like this, Sheldon. I have a career and – "

"You're my son's mother and my wife. I will damned well do what's necessary to protect my family. The matter is closed. Besides, once you drop out of sight the publicity about 'Where is Penny Cooper?' will be good for ratings. You leave for location shots in a few weeks anyway so what's the big deal? Your won't mind having the both of you for a few weeks."

Penny wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder and mumbled, "The big deal is that you'll be here and I'll be there. Taking Newt to Greenland isn't that big a deal but leaving you behind, alone and vulnerable, that's a huge deal, Shel."

Sheldon started to say something when he heard a man's voice, a threatening voice, beside him. The stalker! He felt a 'pop' in his head and knew that he'd been shot and was probably dying.

* * *

ICU

"Dr. Cooper, can you hear me? Dr. Cooper?" The neurologist was stumped. He kept drifting in and out of consciousness and the EEG showed astounding brain activity. He should be awake and up and about but instead he just seemed to be in a coma although the Glasgow scales were all over the place and his posturing was normal.

He left the ICU enclosure intent on calling in some favors and getting second opinions.

Sheldon's eyes snapped open.

"Penny?" _'Where is she? We were just talking and…where am I? Hospital? Oh, crap, the stalker must have got us…' _ He panicked. The stalker was after his wife and would stop at nothing to have her. He needed to get up and help her.

"_PENNY! I'M COMING…"_ he shouted. He tore out his IV and the electrodes that dotted his body and leaped from the bed and the floor rose up and smacked him hard.

* * *

Penny's Apartment

Penny was asleep and dreaming about her wedding day. She was walking down the aisle with her arm on her father's and smiling so broadly that it hurt her face. Her future husband stood before the altar flanked by his best man and various groomsmen.

The shrill trilling of her cell phone tore at her dream and she snapped "What!" when she answered the phone.

"Mrs. Cooper, this is Dorene at the ICU. You need to come down here as quickly as you can. Your husband is awake and frantic because you're not there. He thinks a stalker has you and your son. It's irregular, but can you bring your son along? We need to get him calmed down before he has a stroke!"

A/N: Leaving Wisconsin with my skin intact. What a effing zoo!


	5. Dreams or Nightmares?

Coming to the end. Too few readers to make it worth the effort.

Reparata

* * *

_"Mrs. Cooper, this is Dorene at the ICU. You need to come down here as quickly as you can. Your husband is awake and frantic because you're not there. He thinks a stalker has you and your son. It's irregular, but can you bring your son along? We need to get him calmed down before he has a stroke!"_

Penny stared at the phone, not sure if she were awake or dreaming? _Mrs. Cooper? A stalker? 'Can you bring your son along?'_

Her questions were secondary to getting dressed and back to the hospital. Nothing else was more important. She glanced at the clock on her night table and noted that she'd slept a full 5 hours and grimaced. She felt like she'd only been asleep for 10 minutes. Her eyes felt gritty and she hadn't washed her hair or anything.

'_He thinks we're married? And have a son together? Oh, Sheldon, what have I done to you?'_

She got off the elevator and easily found Sheldon's room since it was the one with all the medical staff going in and out and she could hear Sheldon yelling that they were 'all liars and where the hell is my wife?'

A nurse spotted her and smiled in relief and walked to her and practically dragged Penny to the door of his room. "Where's Newt, Mrs. Cooper? He's really worried that something has happened to you and your son."

Penny didn't say anything. Her mind was focused on the man lying in a hospital bed with his head wrapped in surgical dressings and a rapidly-swelling right eye. He'd have quite a shiner before long.

"Penny! Thank God you're okay! Where's Newt?" He tried to get out of the bed but was restricted by a canvas belt that ran around his waist and fastened below his reach. He was struggling and she remembered what the nurse had said about a stroke…

"Sheldon, honey, calm down before you hurt yourself or have a stroke!" She rushed to his bedside and sat on it and grabbed both his hands in hers. The look on his face both warmed and broke her heart. He was looking at her with such love and trust and… fear? She wasn't sure about the last but definitely certain about the love and trust parts.

"Tell me the last thing you remember before waking up here in the hospital, okay?" She hoped he wouldn't remember just _who_ put him here.

He closed his eyes and scrunched up his face and then rocked her world with his reply.

"The stalker had been in our house - in our own bedroom - and we were arguing about you taking the baby to Nebraska until your location shots came up. I heard a man's voice and…that's all I can remember."

"Sheldon, sweetie, maybe you better start at the beginning. What's the first thing you remember after you saw me in my apartment?"

"I woke up in our bed. You were telling me to get up because there were things to be done. You were dressing and adjusting your breasts in your bra cups and I became…tumescent…and you laughed and we made love and then I fell asleep again. I couldn't seem to stay awake."

"Ooooookay. What's the next thing? Can you remember?" What he told her was so 'Sheldon' and she knew he wouldn't lie about something like that. And he didn't say 'coitus', so that was progress.

"You left via studio limo to do some location shots. I don't remember where but I took the time to Google us and…"

"Wait! A studio limo? Exactly what did I do for a living, sweetie?"

"Why, Penny, you're an Emmy-nominated actress with a weekly series on SyFy…Penny, are you ill?"

"No! No, Sheldon, I'm fine. Go on. I went on location in a limo and…"

"…And I kept passing out so I took your advice and went to see Stephanie. She told me to go to bed and not do anything else and not to worry because Newt was with Missy."

"Wait…what caused all this in the first place, sweetie?"

"Um, well, it's embarrassing, Penny, but I was pitching to our son and he hit a line drive and it struck me in the forehead. Penny, if Newt's not a genius he'll still do all right as a Major League hitter. He's so athletic for 3-year old. He takes after you with his blonde hair and big smile and he's…Penny, what's wrong?"

Penny was smiling through her tears at the description Sheldon gave of their 'child'. It sounded like everything she'd want in a son and Sheldon obviously was a great daddy and loved his son – and her, unless she was missing something. He seemed so damned proud of her and their life together.

"N-nothing, Shel. Just so glad you're awake. Those were beautiful dreams you had – "

"NO! NO! They're not dreams. _This_ is the dream. We've been married for 5 years, Penny, and we have a son we both love and we have a beautiful house and successful careers. We got married in Nebraska and you wore your grandmother's wedding dress and it had a million little pearl buttons and-and-and…"

The dress he described was exactly like the one she always dreamed of wearing but it was her mother's not her grandmother's.

The nurse came in with a sedative and injected it into his IV port. "He needs to sleep and this will calm him down, Mrs. Cooper. He didn't rest in a coma so he's exhausted."

"See? She knows that we're married. Where's Newt, Penny? I want to see my son. The – the – stalk…" and he was asleep.

* * *

"Morning, Sweetheart, all ready for what comes next?" Penny was whispering in his ear, her arm around his waist and one leg between his. It was a comfortable position for both of them and the bed was sooo comfortable.

"Morning, Penelope. I don't know. What comes next?" He was groggy from sleep and his mind was unfocused, for him a great rarity.

"Whatever you can imagine, my husband. The whole world is yours for the taking. All you have to do is think - and it is." She pressed kisses into his neck and snuggled up closer to him.

"So if I wanted to just stay here forever, I could?" He was a scientist and investigating phenomena was second nature to him. He already had the germ of a theory.

"Sure. Or we could get Newt and fly to the Orient or go see the Nile River or we could…" She whispered a suggestion and giggled.

"But this isn't real, is it, Penny? You're all…not really here, are you?" She bit down on his shoulder and he yelped and rubbed it.

"I'm as real as you need me to be, Sheldon. Here, we're alive and in love and we're forever young and healthy and we have a beautiful son who'll never grow old, or we can watch him grow up, get married, have kids – grandchildren, Sheldon! Our friends and family will always be there for us and us for them. It's beautiful, Shelly. You have a beautiful mind, my darling man, and you use it so well when you're not bogged down with equations and problems and those three idiots who hold you back from true greatness."

"I can't stay asleep my entire life, Penny." He was on the cusp of a great discovery and his excitement was hard to suppress.

"You don't have to sleep, Moon Pie, just turn inward and don't look back. You have the power of your mind, Sheldon. Use it to keep all of this alive. Don't leave us, honey, stay with us always, please?"

"But Penny…"

"Okay, Moon Pie, let's talk 'reality'." Suddenly they were standing before a huge mirror. Both were naked and Sheldon, always easily embarrassed by his own body, tried to cover himself.

"Could 'Sheldon Cooper' ever hope to be with a woman like 'me'?" She cupped her breasts and then ran her tongue over her lips, moistening them. She pirouetted slowly, allowing him to see her toned body from all angles, her cute little tattoo that now depicted the Chinese character for 'Courage'.

"Could someone like 'me' _ever_ fall in love with a pathetic, scrawny geek like you out there in the real world? Nope." Her tone of voice was taunting and reminiscent of those mocking voices from his childhood, hell, from 'always'.

"I have to try…" He'd almost formulated the hypothesis to frame the test of his theory.

"Sheldon, I didn't want to resort to this but…"

_Sheldon Cooper, you're a huge frikkin' asshole, y'know that?_

It was a real memory and he knew it. "You went over to apologize to her and then…"

'_Penny, I have come to apologize. I did not mean to make you angry or to prompt you to use such disgusting language but I realize that you – '_

'_Sheldon, lean down here a minute.'_

"She set you up! She slammed the door in your face, deliberately hurting you! Your _precious_ 'Perfect Penny' is the reason you're here in this hospital." Her tone was vicious but she sweetened and whispered, "Stay here where it's safe and where everyone loves you, honey. We can be together forever. No more pain. No more drama. You'll be far happier here than out there."

"It was an accident, nothing more. I seem to bring out the Nebraska in her more than anyone else. I want to try – "

"You'll fail! She doesn't love you. She'll never love a loser like you. _Accept it_!"

* * *

Penny jerked awake from a doze when she heard Sheldon's voice loudly say 'accept it'. Whatever he was dreaming about was clearly upsetting him. She saw a tear leak from the corner of his eye and track back towards his ear. Even asleep, his face conveyed shock and then incredible sadness.

Penny used a tissue to wipe away the tear and she leaned down and whispered softly in his ear. "I love you, Sheldon Lee Cooper, and I hope you can forgive me someday for all of this and maybe give 'us' a chance? I'd really like to try and have the life you dreamed for us, Sheldon. Please wake up and talk to me, please?"


	6. Almost Back to Normal NOT

Chapter 6 The Incident

'_Please wake up and talk to me, please?'_

* * *

'Jesus, Sheldon, how do you ever put up with her constant demands and that keening whiny voice of hers?' Whatever was happening in his head was still happening and now seemed to be a bit abrasive to him – even though he'd long since realized that _it_ was his own subconscious taking him to new depths of isolation.

"I love her voice. Since it's the same voice I hear in my dreams, you shouldn't be complaining." Dream-Penny put her hands over her ears and began singing 'La la la la' loudly.

"I need to wake up. This is ridiculous. This is – "

"Oh, Shelllllldon?" Dream-Penny was standing in front of a white board covered with equations, and she was naked and looked incredibly beautiful and vibrant.

"Wanna see the equations that prove String Theory? They've been in the back of your head for ages, sweetie, and you've been too immersed in your damned real world crap to realize you've proven String Theory!"

"Oh, my word! Yes, of course I do, Penny. Step aside please. Oh, no…they're incomplete!"

"Well, a girl's gotta have some secrets. And leverage, Shel, a girl needs leverage to keep her man. Promise to stay with me and I'll show you your equations. They're really quite remarkable, Dr. Cooper. Groundbreaking theory from a man who can have it all by just…looking inward."

Sheldon stared at his Dream-Penny. _I have to know what the answers are. I'll have Penny and Newt and a beautiful life. What more do I really need? There'll be no challenges, no set-backs, no arguments, just an idyllic life of perfection._

* * *

The neurologist returned with a psychiatrist in tow. After a brief examination and a review of his charts, they met with Penny in a patient consultation conference.

"Penny, since you're his emergency contact person, and in the absence of a parent, guardian or spouse, it's your call." He turned and introduced her to the psychiatrist, Dr. Gideon, who was scarcely older than Penny and looked like she'd just swallowed a bug – a big one.

"Penny, please call me Adele. Now, I'm sure you've noticed that Mr. Cooper – "

"It's _DOCTOR_ Cooper, Adele. He has two doctorates, actually." Penny wasn't going to have any freshly-minted shrink denigrate her Moon Pie. She wished, more than anything, that his mother were here to make what must be a huge decision.

"Um, yes, Dr. Cooper…is nearly catatonic. That means he's awake but totally unresponsive to outside stimuli with, perhaps, the exception of severe pain. Now, as a lay person, you don't understand but it's a serious situation he's in. In extreme situations, the patient is subjected to elecroconvulsive shock therapy – "

"NO! No fucking way are you people going to fry his brain just so he'll be awake and docile and meet some standard of behavior you people set and that helps you sleep at night."

"Penny – " Dr. Gideon interrupted her rant when she took a breath.

"Don't 'Penny' me. I did this to him. I slammed the door and it hit him in the head. You're not going to hurt him anymore. Just – just give me time to talk to him. I can bring him around. You don't know what's going on in his head. He's imagining a beautiful life to take the place of the crappy one he has. I can bring him around, honestly. I just need time."

"You don't have the qualifications or training nor do you – "

"Oh, I have the qualifications, _Adele,"_ she said, her voice dripping with contempt and anger. "I've known him for years and we're friends, close friends, and what he's conjuring up in his beautiful mind is just what I'm going to give him in real life. Back off. Unless he's violent or his insurance runs out, you're not touching him with your electrocution crap or with drugs."

She stood up, glared at the pair in white coats, and then stormed out of the conference room and almost ran back to Sheldon's ICE cubicle.

"Sheldon! Please, Shelly, wake up! They're going to zap your brain with electricity and try to bring you back but it's dangerous and they don't care what happens to you – not like I do. Sheldon – please, you got to wake up. I need you. How am I going to have kids without you? What good is being an actress if I've got no one to share the joy with? Please, Moon Pie…"

* * *

"So what's it going to be, Moon Pie? A life full of contentment and the knowledge that you're proven String Theory, won the Nobel Prize, married the beautiful actress that everyone wants to bed, have a kid and a dog and…hell, what's it going to be, Moon Pie?"

* * *

"Don't call me Moon Pie, Penny!"

His eyes snapped open and she was shocked to hear him say to her, "Don't call me Moon Pie, Penny!" and grin at her. It wasn't his normal Jokeresque grin but a full-toothed happy grin.

He was back.

Sheldon was released to outpatient status as soon as the 'holes in his head' showed signs of healing sufficiently to allow him to leave. There were a long list of 'do's and don't's' and Penny quickly reviewed them and asked clarifying questions of the nurse of some of the more vague ones but soon she was helping Sheldon up the stairs and into _her_ apartment.

He was tired from the drive and his legs were shaking and he was out of breath by the time he'd climbed the stairs to the 4th floor and he was so grateful to sit down that he didn't care it was in Penny's apartment.

She sat across from him on her coffee table and leaned over, placing her palms on his knees, watching him catch his breath.

"Now, Shel, understand something: this is home for the next two weeks, minimum. I'll bring over anything you need from your apartment, _within reason_, to make your stay more comfortable. You're here because you don't have anyone to stay with you and I've got nothing but time now, so live with it."

"But Penny, what about your job? You hardly left the hospital since my 'awakening' and – "

"I got fired, honey. They said I took off too much work and so they let me go. I tried to explain that it was you – "

"That's – barbaric! We'll sue the bastards, Penny. In the meantime, I have money in the bank, unlike you. I regularly deposit 41% of my paycheck in savings. So if you multiply the average of my biweekly pay times 26 pay periods per year times 8 years, I have approximately $186,664.23 plus interest accrued but unreported since my last statement, more than enough to keep us in food and utilities and 'shoes' for quite a while."

She was shocked. It would take her years to just earn that amount of money.

"But Sheldon, I can't, no, I won't take your money. I made the decision to stay by your side knowing that I might get canned but it was what I wanted to do. I'll get by some how. The rent's paid and they won't cut off my juice until next month so I have that long to find another job after you're back on your feet."

He was confused for a moment and it showed and she leaned over and cupped his cheek in her palm. "Shel, it's okay, really. Don't feel bad. I couldn't leave you there alone and I wanted to be with you, I _want_ to be with you, understand?"

"Look at me, Penny, really look at me. Half the time I don't know what's real and what's not. I hid it from the doctors. But sometimes…sometimes when I look at you I remember how we were together and then realize it was all some kind of cruel joke my mind played on me."

"Hey! None of that. You have a beautiful mind, sweetie, and I've learned that 'smart is sexy'. I'm sorry about the door, Sheldon. I never meant to hurt you. I – I love you, Sheldon Cooper, God help me, but I do, and I'm so sorry that I hurt you."

He flashed for a moment on the 'mirror scene' and then looked away from her. He would never forget what he'd done to himself, what his lack of self-confidence had almost done to himself. It would have been so easy…just look inward and never look back.

Penny punched him lightly in the arm to get his attention. She worried about these long silences and how his eyes glazed over and she was terrified that he would go back to his dream world and never wake up again.

"Sheldon, do you remember telling me that you loved me? It was right after you first woke up. Do you remember saying it? Do you remember what I said?"

"It was all so confusing, Penny. I was passing out and waking up in new situations constantly. I had a son and a wife whom I adored and who seemed to like me. I was a Nobel candidate although I never got to see my equations. You, I mean _you_ in my dreams, wouldn't let me see them unless I turned inward and never looked back. Someone who loved me wouldn't do that, wouldn't demand such a sacrifice…"

'…seemed to like me…' broke her heart for him. He just couldn't believe that he was worthy of anyone's love and it was so apparent that whatever childhood he'd experienced had reinforced those feelings until as an adult he'd acted upon them and created a dream world where he could love and be loved in return.

When Sheldon announced that he was tired and was going to go to bed, Penny smiled and showed him into her room that was immaculately clean. She'd even had the sheets cleaned by a laundress.

He glanced at her with that pleased smirk he got. _Finally, _she'd done something right. She wasn't so sure when he walked into her bathroom, ran the tub full and then walked back into the bedroom, shedding his clothing in a pile on the floor and getting clean boxers from bureau and slipping into bed.

'_I didn't know he wore boxers?'_

"Penny, don't stay up too late, okay? You're dead on your feet. Go soak in the tub and then wake me. We'll talk about the days ahead, okay?"

He was asleep when she checked and then dressed in a sleep shirt and went out to the couch, throwing sheets and a pillow on the cushions and falling almost instantly asleep.

* * *

"Penny?" Someone gently shook her by the shoulder and she was instantly awake once her brain processed the voice she heard as Sheldon's.

"What's wrong? Are you sick? Bad dreams?"

"No. Lonely. Come to bed, Penny. This couch isn't fit to sleep on and I miss you." His voice was so soft and gentle that she hardly recognized the need behind it.

"Okay, sweetie, if you're sure you can sleep – "

"I can't sleep without you."

Sheldon slipped back into bed on his back and Penny got in, lying on her side as far from him as possible. He was right. The couch was an abominable place to sleep.

She had just settled in with a sigh when Sheldon reached over and pulled her against him, putting her head on his chest and her thigh between his. He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head and whispered, 'G'night, Penn' and was asleep in 10 seconds.

'_Is this…is he relapsing? Sheldon would never…'_

She was totally confused and unsure of how to handle 'New Sheldon' but she vowed to enjoy it. He was so much more comfortable that the couch.

The first hint of trouble came with the loss of cable internet. Penny felt uncomfortable taking Sheldon's money and finally he brought the matter to a head, although not quite the way either of them had ever dreamed of.

"Penny, the internet is down and according to the cable company – "

"I couldn't pay the cable and the electricity, Shel, so I had to make a decision – "

"Penny Cooper, what's mine is ours, got it? Jesus…"

Penny felt the tears build up behind her eyes and she walked quickly into the bathroom and closed the door behind her leaving Sheldon wondering just what he'd done wrong this time.


	7. Freud and FirstTime Kisses

Chapter 7

"_Penny Cooper, what's mine is ours, got it? Jesus…"_

* * *

Sheldon Cooper was way smarter than a rocket scientist by several orders of magnitude but he was dumb as a bag of hammers when it came to human beings and their emotions. Still, it only took him 3.8 seconds to review what was said, done, and the results of his spontaneous utterance.

'_I called her Penny Cooper! It was an unthinking comment on my part. Some part of me acknowledges that she is Penny Cooper even if it's not occurring within a legal social construct of this reality. It was not a slip of the tongue then. And she very astutely caught it and either it embarrassed and humiliated her to the point of tears or…'_

His long strides carried him to the closed bathroom door and he knocked once, only once, and opened the door and walked in.

Penny was sitting on the edge of the bathtub with her face in her hands. It didn't take much to discern that she was quietly weeping and something in his chest tightened with guilt.

"Go away, Sheldon. Get out. I don't want you to see me like this. Just, just go."

"Go where, Penny?" Was she throwing him out? Was she angry because of his slip of the tongue?

"I don't care. Go to the living room, the bedroom, the kitchen, out into the hallway, your own apartment, I don't care. Leave me alone, Sheldon."

Sheldon turned to the sink and grabbed a face cloth and ran warm water over it and then knelt down in front of his – what? – he wasn't sure yet, and pulled her hands from her face and gently washed away the tears and makeup and then set the face cloth aside.

"Penny?" She was still looking downwards and he needed to see her face, her eyes, so he lightly grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger and lifted it until she was facing him.

"Oh, Penny…" came his whispered voice and he leaned over and kissed her. Her lips were different than he remembered – softer and fuller – and she tasted like strawberries and sunshine.

"I'm sorry," she whispered after he ended the brief kiss. He interpreted her words as rejection and he felt something tug in his head and the voice of Dream Penny seemed to laugh at him.

'_See! Loser! Come back to me, Sheldon. I won't reject you." _The voice seemed to have a hissing quality about it.

Before he could over-think the situation Penny placed the palms of her hands on either side of his face and kissed him back - really kissed him, sucking his lower lip between hers and lightly running the point of her tongue over it. There was nothing tentative about it.

When the kiss ended, Penny whispered, "I'm sorry for walking out on you, Shel, but you called me 'Penny _Cooper_' and it was just too much for me to handle. I'm not _Penny Cooper_, Sheldon."

"I know that. It was just wishful thinking or perhaps a Freudian slip, although that rubbish hardly deserves to be considered – "

She kissed him again to shut him up. "You think too much, Moon Pie."

"Penny, don't call me Moon Pie."

They both remembered the last time he'd said it and Penny smiled and then laughed. So what if his brain was a little scrambled after two surgeries. She'd just have to handle it. He was here, awake and aware, and she needed to keep him focused on the 'here and now', not the 'there and then' of his delusional dreams.

* * *

A/N: Short but I wanted to keep tickling the keys. I'll be finishing up everything and then disappearing for a while until I find a new home.

Rep 6/13/2012


	8. Manicures and promises

Sorry for the fluffy bunny crap but I miss my guy and I wish he was here instead of over there.

* * *

Chapter8 The Incident

Things settled into a comfortable routine for the couple. Penny watched him like a hawk and Sheldon pretended to ignore it. Penny cooked and Sheldon would clean up afterwards.

Sheldon bent down to pick up something from the carpet and he groaned and fell to his knees and then to the carpet and slipped into a brief fugue state. Penny had been waiting on some sign of the difficulties the neurosurgeon had assured her were on the horizon and now she had it.

"Shel, Sheldon?" Penny turned him over onto his back and then pulled him up into her lap and held him against her breasts, waiting for the fluttering eyes and momentary confusion that she'd been told would happen.

'_Changes in blood pressure as a result of bending or standing suddenly can affect him. It's normal and will pass but it will happen, Ms. Drummond, as sure as the sun rises. Don't panic unless he seizes and then simply stick something in his mouth so he won't bite or swallow his tongue and call 9-1-1.'_

Sheldon's eyes snapped open and she saw the initial panic.

"Penny, am I in your apartment or my home? Which Penny are you? If you're Dream Penny, don't pull any crap on me because I've got your number, sister. You want me to give up, to go back and I won't, so don't bother wasting one breath on some bullshit I won't believe."

Penny almost dropped him. Sheldon never cursed, never.

"Y-you're home, sweetie, in our apartment, well, my apartment but what's mine is yours, Shel. It's me, crazy, screwed up, unemployed Penny."

"Thank God!" Sheldon tried to sit up but Penny's embrace stopped him and he settled back into her warmth and cushiony fullness with a sigh.

"I think whatever happened was just the result of me bending over. I got dizzy and…"

"Hush. I know. I just got scared that you were…"

"Penny, I need to get up even though my current physical location is both endearing and comfortable. There are things to be done."

"Just a few more seconds, Shel, until I'm certain you're not going to get dizzy again from 'postural displacement'. You don't mind, do you? For my peace of mind?"

The soft warmth of her breasts and her unique scent calmed and centered him. He could hear her heart beating and he snuggled closer, inhaling deeply. He could remain as he was for eternity…but there were things to be done.

"Penny, we have errands to run and important changes to be made and acknowledged in our relationship, some are financial and I will brook no resistance from you. Help me up and then change into something that will be appropriate to doing business."

* * *

The couple returned to Los Robles four hours later and Sheldon immediately went to his white board and began scribbling equations. Penny put her new shoes and other things that Sheldon insisted that she would need in her closet and then sat on the bed admiring the way her newly-manicured hands looked.

Their first stop had been Sheldon's bank. He presented himself to the manager and then introduced Penny as his 'fiance' and instructed the manager to add Penny to his accounts.

"Sheldon, what are you doing?" She didn't want his money. She needed it but didn't want it. It was too much like charity. And they weren't 'engaged'.

"Hush, Penelope. We both have expenses and I know you're struggling. I meant what I said earlier when I said 'what's mine is ours'. I was also serious when I said I would brook no argument or interference on your part. Oh! I almost forgot!"

He turned to the manager who had wisely not interrupted since she knew Dr. Cooper would chastise her for doing so and said, "She'll need to be on my credit card accounts and also she'll need access to my safety deposit box. Make it so."

Penny tried not to grin. He sounded like Jean Luc Piccard when he spoke to the bank manager. He was definitely 'in charge'.

* * *

Penny was sipping a nice herbal tea while Sheldon made notes on his iPad when the branch manager presented Penny with her new credit cards, her checkbook and debit card as well as a key to a safety deposit box.

"Ms. Drummond, on behalf of our bank, allow me to welcome you to the Prestige Club. Dr. Cooper is one of our most unusual but valued clients. Few of our depositors have the ability to manage their portfolios and accounts without outside assistance."

Penny had seen how the bank manager had rushed to complete his instructions and shook her head. All her bank ever did was send her notices of overdrafts.

The couple walked out of the bank and Sheldon pointed to a shop across the boulevard, The Mani-Pedi Palace, and 'suggested' that she get her nails done while he took care of an errand just up the street. Her first thought was 'I can't afford – ' but she stopped and smiled at him.

"I'd like that. Why don't you pick me up there and we'll grab something to eat for lunch before heading back home?"

"Sounds like a plan, Penny. I shouldn't be more than an hour or so. How long does it take to get your nails done? I have no idea about such things. I have so much to learn about the 'care and feeding of Penelope Drummond."

He looked so innocent and she felt a rush of enormous love and affection for her new boyfriend – so intense she felt like her heart had cramped. He was no longer a 'boy' in her eyes and she realized that she'd always categorized the people she'd met over at his apartment as 'the boys'. Sheldon had always been 'Sheldon', never one of the boys. Always apart, aloof, and distant.

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed just the corner of his mouth and gazed up at him and whispered, "Thanks, Moon Pie, for everything."

Penny was halfway across the boulevard when she heard him shout, "Penny, don't call me Moon Pie!" The smile on her face would have convinced a blind man that the young blonde was in love.

And now they were home and Penny was just enjoying their comfortable 'togetherness'. It always amazed her how they worked in synch with one another, whether it was doing something like making PennyBlossoms or arguing. Others had commented on it over the years but she'd always discounted it as just comfort but now she knew it was more.

Penny Drummond had found that she had a soul mate. And he's almost killed him.

There was a quiet knock at her bedroom door and Sheldon asked if she were decent. How typical. For just a second before she opened the door she toyed with the idea of tearing off her clothes and greeting him the way she wanted to: naked and ready for anything.

"Hey, Moo – Sheldon. What's up?" He looked strained and almost nervous. He reached down and took her small hand in his so much larger one and looked at it.

"I like the way your hand looks, Penelope, but it's missing something…can you think of what it is?" He looked at her in quizzical wonder and she had no idea what he was talking about. She held up her hand and looked at it and shook her head.

"Nope. Same old hand but thank you for the manicure, Shel." She'd splurged and gotten the 'Custom Nails' and they made her hands look very beautiful.

"I think it looks naked, Penelope. Without this." He slipped a ring on the finger and admired it. "It's not an engagement ring, Penelope, just something I saw and decided you'd like. I hope I'm not being too forward. These social constructs elude me as to what's proper or too intimate to – "

Her lips found his and stopped his self-deprecating comments and soon he could only moan as she plundered his mouth, tasting and teasing and robbing him of organized thought.

"It's perfect, Sheldon. And I assume you know it's a promise ring, right? Is there something you want to say?" Somehow she'd maneuvered them to her bed and now she was draped across him in the same manner they'd slept since returning from the hospital.

"I, I promise, I, I promise to always love you, Penny." He seemed out of breath and she could hear his heart pounding through his shirts and her smile would have lit up the room if it had been dark.

"I promise to always love you too, Moon Pie. Always and forever."

"Penny! Oh, drat, I guess you can call me Moon Pie."


	9. Eureka

Final Chapter – The Incident

Penny awoke, startled from sleep by Sheldon's mutterings in the living room. Even though they'd slept together since his return from the hospital they'd yet to do 'the nasty' as Penny mentally referred to having sex with Sheldon and she was getting frustrated.

_We've been living together almost 3 months and he's yet to move past kissing…really hot and nasty kissing…but I want more. I want everything and damnit, I want it now._

She slipped out of bed and held up the translucent silk robe Sheldon had insisted on buying her. Her old robe was comfortable but she had to admit that the feel of silk on her bare skin was way better than the pilled and snagged cotton flannel of her old bathrobe.

She had a thought and quickly pulled off her t-shirt and panties and slipped into the silk robe and went in search of her Moon Pie. She turned on the bedroom lamp to 'backlight' her and stood in the doorway and watched as Sheldon added lines of formulae to his white board.

"Almost there," she heard him mutter loudly to himself. Now she felt guilty. If he were on the 'cusp of discovery' as he often said, she didn't want to distract him. His work was too important.

But she did. Sheldon looked over at her and gasped but quickly recovered and smiled at her a little sadly. "I woke you up, didn't I? I'm sorry. You have that audition tomorrow and I interrupted your REM cycles with my mutterings, didn't I?"

"No, sweetheart, I just felt cold and rolled over to wrap around my own personal hot water bottle but he was gone. Everything going okay?"

He nodded, not trusting his voice. He'd reworked a formula and the remainder of the equation required fundamental changes and he was frustrated with himself for his earlier mistake.

Now he was really frustrated seeing Penny's obviously naked form outlined in silk against the light from their bedroom. He felt that tightening in his groin and he turned away from her in embarrassment. Sleeping next to her but not touching her was more frustrating than trying to develop the missing theorems his mind refused to release.

"I'm stuck and I fixed an error and now I have to rewrite the entire equation and hope it still works. I'm making stupid mistakes, Penny."

_I can't stop thinking about you when I know you're lying in our bed and all I want to do is touch you, taste you and then possess you as a man possesses his woman – but I can't._

"Then come to bed, baby. You're overly tired and you know you need your full complement of REM to be at your best."

She walked across the small living room and took the dry marker from his hand and capped it and put it in its proper position on the tray rail and took his hand and led him back to their bedroom.

She stood beside their bed, her back to him, and whispered. "Help me off with my robe, Sheldon." He reached around and undid the belt and then ran his palms up her arms to her shoulders and she shivered.

"Are you cold, Penny? Perhaps – "

She turned in the circle of his arms and he was startled when she dropped the silk robe to the floor with a shrug of her shoulders and he beheld her naked for the first time. He'd seen 'Dream Penny' of course, but this was _the_ Penny, his real-life dream girl and she was naked.

His voice was small and filled with a longing that made her heart race. "Ohhh, Penny…"

"Come to bed, beloved, and make me yours. I've waited for this all these weeks and I want you so bad, Sheldon. Please, don't make me beg…"

"Penny, I – I can't. I can't satisfy you the way you'll need. I'm not…I'm not Dream Sheldon who has stamina and imagination and knows just what to do to keep you teetering on the brink but teasing you until you scream for release. I'm just me…Sheldon. If you're the Big Ol' Five then I'm a negative value approaching infinity."

She was stunned by his 'confession' and sad that she hadn't realized before that, of course, the real Sheldon would be nothing like the 'Dream Sheldon' although she knew that underneath those t-shirts and plaid pants there lurked the kernal of 'Dream Sheldon' since it was her Sheldon's subconscious that created him.

She tugged untied the draw string of his sleep pants and smiled up at him. The difference in their heights made her feel small and innocent and she blushed. Penny pulled down his pants and pulled him towards their bed. He never broke eye contact with her and she knew he was embarrassed by his sudden nakedness.

"Take off the shirt, Sheldon. I want to feel your skin against mine. I want – I want us to make love and if it's not perfect the first time, that's okay. We'll just keep trying until we get it right. Isn't that what all great scientists do? Keep striving until they reach perfection?"

He smiled nervously when she drew him down beside her. He felt very comfortable kissing Penny but the sudden addition of the variable of nakedness created tension that had gradually disappeared over time but now was back with a vengeance.

"Hey, Shel, it's okay. We have forever to get it right. I'm not going anywhere, Sheldon. I'm going to stay by your side no matter what happens. That what people in love do, y'know? They stand together and face whatever life throws at them."

For a first time, it wasn't bad, not really. Penny had been 'instructive' _(Right there, Sheldon, that's right, now relax and let me do the work)_ and Sheldon had followed her instructions. They touched each other freely during the 'afterglow' and all the walls that Sheldon had crafted were almost gone.

Penny wiped a few strands of hair off her face and snuggled closer to the last man she'd ever be intimate with. "Y'know, Shel, practice makes perfect. Keep that in mind because I intend to practice this a lot, baby."

Sheldon was almost asleep, thoroughly relaxed and feeling loved by someone not related to him for the first time in his life. Something seemed to snap in his head and he felt a moment of dizziness and then…

"Eureka! That's it!" He leaned over and kissed Penny with all the passion of a veteran lover and then jumped up and ran out into the living room.

"Sheldon! What the hell?" She was lying on her stomach on the floor. He'd dumped her off the bed in his hast to get at his white boards.

She pulled on the silk robe that had started it all and stormed out into the living room determined to teach her boyfriend some 'social protocols' but stopped when she saw the look on his face.

He turned to her and she gasped at the tears on his cheeks and was suddenly fearful of a relapse.

"Penny, I've done it. I've solved the theorem and proven String Theory and I owe it all to you, Penny. You've brought nothing but chaos into my life and now…joy and peace and disorganization and spontaneity and – and that was all I ever needed. You were all I ever needed."

Sheldon Cooper never looked back. He looked forward and what he saw, he made happen.

Sheldon and Penny Cooper were married at a small church outside Omaha, Nebraska. The bride wore her mother's wedding dress with one major alteration: a hidden zipper was sewn into the side panel. All those buttons…

A/N: It's done. Thanks for reading along. Sorry for the sucky fluffy ending but I could use a happy ending.

Reparata

6/22/2012


End file.
